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Statement to be attributed to ACT Chief Police Officer Scott Lee
Last year, the ACT Ombudsman advised us that it would be conducting an Own Motion Investigation into the use of force by ACT Policing.
ACT Policing has transparently and constructively engaged with the Ombudsman in the conduct of the Ombudsman’s Own Motion Investigation.
We are a transparent organisation that openly provided the Ombudsman with information and facilitated visits where requested.
Police are provided with significant responsibility and powers to protect and ensure the safety of the community. To maintain the trust and confidence of the community, that these powers are being exercised appropriately and responsibly, I acknowledge and welcome the need for transparency and accountability for ACT Policing.
I would like to reassure the ACT community that the overwhelming majority of interactions my officers have with the community are appropriate – and are conducted with care, professionalism and to the high standards expected by ACT Policing and the community.
As the Ombudsman acknowledged in his report, police have a very challenging job. Our officers “need to make quick decisions in complex circumstances about whether and how to exercise their various powers”.
The report examined police activity from 2019 to 2023, where police responded to more than 445,736 incidents. From these 445,000 incidents, 5902 incidents resulted in a reportable use of force being utilised by ACT Policing members to resolve these incidents.
This equates to just 1.3 per cent of those incidents resulting in a reportable use of force by police.
Of these incidents, the Ombudsman’s investigation team viewed files of body-worn camera or CCTV footage relating to 54 separate use-of-force incidents and analysed a significant number of use-of-force reports.
Whilst the vast majority of our interactions with the community are undertaken professionally and to a high standard, where mistakes are identified, ACT Policing and the AFP are committed to ensuring that these matters are reviewed, learnings are identified and appropriate action is taken. ACT Policing and the AFP is committed to continuous improvement to ensure that our policies, training and procedures are continually enhanced to support our members and meet community expectations.
While the use of force for police may be necessary at times, we recognise, that de-escalation, without the need for force, should always be our first option. This is ingrained in our recruits in their initial training and reinforced yearly with scenario-based training and is demonstrated with the data I referenced before that just 1.3 per cent of our interactions result in a reportable use-of-force.
Overall ACT Policing’s Professional Standards data demonstrates our members’ ability and commitment to uphold our values in line with the AFP’s code of conduct. In relation to any case studies identified in this report where there are established allegations of misconduct, I can assure the ACT community that those members are held accountable within our Professional Standards framework.
Sanctions of members who are found to have engaged in misconduct can range from formal counselling to demotion or termination or to the laying of criminal charges.
In relation to the recommendations contained in the report, I can confirm that the AFP and ACT Policing have accepted 2 recommendations, partially accepted 8 recommendations and did not accept 3 recommendations.
Where we have partially accepted recommendations, this means that while we do disagree with certain elements in each recommendation and we have outlined our rationale behind those instances in our response to the Ombudsman (which is also published in the report), we accept there is an element we can enhance.
ACT Policing will prioritise the implementation of these recommendations in accordance with the timelines provided in our response and work has already commenced on process improvements that are being implemented now.
I thank my officers for the tireless work they perform every day and their dedication in keeping Canberra safe. It is often a thankless task but is not lost on me the danger they face.